West of Eden

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483 pages

Average rating: 9.25

4 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anonymous
Apr 02, 2025
10/10 stars
Harry Harrison’s West of Eden is a classic and for good reason. This review nicely sums it up.

https://goodreads.com/review/show/75123737?book_show_action=false&page=1

But I’ll try to add a few thoughts. This book is one of my all time favorites. With an alternate world where dinosaurs didn’t go extinct and one species evolved intelligence and civilization, I was sucked in with just that premise alone! It doesn’t end there, Mr. Harrison beautifully crafts the Yilane with amazing attention to detail. They are a species that uses biology to make tools and the author uses this to spin some amazing scenes. The society itself is also a far from human as one can imagine. He never makes them too human and despite that they are complex and individual.

From the cities grown not built, the scientists, the war monger, the males in the hiram, to using a slug to remove hair...every detail paints a vivid reality so different from our own. The one hand wave that I accept for plot purposes is that humans exist in this world, even with part of the world frozen, it seems beyond unlikely that the chain of events leading to humans would have happened...but that's OK. The story is worth it. The conflict and contrast between the hunter gather humans and the 'civilized' Yilane makes for wonderful drama.
ngocnm
Mar 31, 2025
10/10 stars
Harry Harrison’s West of Eden is a classic and for good reason. This review nicely sums it up.

https://goodreads.com/review/show/75123737?book_show_action=false&page=1

But I’ll try to add a few thoughts. This book is one of my all time favorites. With an alternate world where dinosaurs didn’t go extinct and one species evolved intelligence and civilization, I was sucked in with just that premise alone! It doesn’t end there, Mr. Harrison beautifully crafts the Yilane with amazing attention to detail. They are a species that uses biology to make tools and the author uses this to spin some amazing scenes. The society itself is also a far from human as one can imagine. He never makes them too human and despite that they are complex and individual.

From the cities grown not built, the scientists, the war monger, the males in the hiram, to using a slug to remove hair...every detail paints a vivid reality so different from our own. The one hand wave that I accept for plot purposes is that humans exist in this world, even with part of the world frozen, it seems beyond unlikely that the chain of events leading to humans would have happened...but that's OK. The story is worth it. The conflict and contrast between the hunter gather humans and the 'civilized' Yilane makes for wonderful drama.
Anonymous
Mar 27, 2025
10/10 stars
Harry Harrison’s West of Eden is a classic and for good reason. This review nicely sums it up.

https://goodreads.com/review/show/75123737?book_show_action=false&page=1

But I’ll try to add a few thoughts. This book is one of my all time favorites. With an alternate world where dinosaurs didn’t go extinct and one species evolved intelligence and civilization, I was sucked in with just that premise alone! It doesn’t end there, Mr. Harrison beautifully crafts the Yilane with amazing attention to detail. They are a species that uses biology to make tools and the author uses this to spin some amazing scenes. The society itself is also a far from human as one can imagine. He never makes them too human and despite that they are complex and individual.

From the cities grown not built, the scientists, the war monger, the males in the hiram, to using a slug to remove hair...every detail paints a vivid reality so different from our own. The one hand wave that I accept for plot purposes is that humans exist in this world, even with part of the world frozen, it seems beyond unlikely that the chain of events leading to humans would have happened...but that's OK. The story is worth it. The conflict and contrast between the hunter gather humans and the 'civilized' Yilane makes for wonderful drama.

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